It’s well known that the Japanese love rice, and eat it with nearly every meal, but they’re no slouches when it comes to making exotic types of bread, too. Introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century, pan (as it’s called, no relation to shimapan) comes in many shapes and sizes. There’s shoku-pan or normal sliced bread, awesome “curry bread” with spicy curry inside, and even “Bacon Cheese France,” French bread with cheese and bacon somehow baked inside. Some varieties of Japanese bread are often made with the simplest of ingredients, such as yakisoba pan, a roll with delicious chow mein-style noodles shoved inside, or ichigo whip-sand, sandwiches made with whipped cream and strawberries, sold in convenience stores. Most of us don’t think of bread as being sweet, but many types in Japan are, including anpan (a traditional round bread with sweet anko beans inside), melon-pan (vaguely melon-shaped) bread beloved of a certain tsundere girl, and honey toast, essentially a loaf of bread that’s been toasted then covered with honey or syrup plus fruit and other good things.
There are many kinds of bread in Japan.
